Tears of Blood
by darkfire123
Summary: LORD TOKUGAWA IS DEAD. Taro Tokugawa hears this news and is taken to the Tokugawa castle to have a bride and take the throne. Will this be the end of his days as a ninja? Disclaimer: Blood Ninja is not mine.
1. Chapter 1

((A/N: Shusaku's gonna be alive in this, okay? :D))

It had been years since Taro became a ninja. He found his mother, but had to leave her again. He became a very skilled archer and swordsman, for Lady Oda no Hana was traveling and teaching him. Hiro, Taro's friend, was also on his journey.  
"Where's Shusaku?" Lady Oda no Hana asked out of the blue and Taro winced.  
"Errr..." Taro stammered. Shusaku, his mentor, told him that he went to Taro's hometown, Shirahama. Suddenly, Taro could smell the pine oil and sea salt of Shirahama. Tears threatened to well in his eyes. Taro could imagine the smoked fish he and his mother devoured happily and the dried seaweed that was a crucial ingredient for Taro's favorite food-- sushi.  
"Taro?" Lady Oda no Hana slapped him hard.  
"Huh? Wait, wha--" Taro started but was interrupted by another slap. "Um, where Shusaku is.. he went to Tokugawa--"  
"Don't say that name!" Lady Oda no Hana cried. Taro felt guilty. He was Lord Tokugawa's son, destined to become shogun, leader of Japan.  
Taro had killed Lady Oda no Hana's father, Lord Oda. As a child, Taro grew up in Oda's territory, believing Oda was a very giving man, providing his villages with all they needed. Apparently, Taro drained all of Oda's blood. He had looked like a shriveled-up, life-size Oda doll.  
See, Taro was a ninja. And apparently all ninja were vampires.  
Know that.  
"I'm sorry," Tar apologized. "Shusaku went THERE... just to visit."  
"I understand," Lady Oda no Hana mumbled, nodding. Taro yet again was infuriated with himself.  
Lady Oda no Hana is probably mad at me! he thought. Dang it!

"Huh?" a familiar voice behind them asked. "Someone say my name?"  
Lady Hana unsheathed her katana. Hiro crouched in an attack mode. Taro instinctively whipped out his bow and drew an arrow.  
A man in the shadows was staring at them. Taro could only make out the whites of his eyes.  
"Who's this?" asked Hiro.  
The man sighed. "Don't you recognize my voice?"  
"It's Shusaku, dumb butt!" Taro shouted.  
"Shusaku!" Hiro cried. "Where were you? Taro froze. If Shusaku said the truth, Lady Oda no Hana would be furious. He traced the air by his hip and wrote the kanji characters for castle. Shusaku's mouth half-smiled and he replied, "Tokugawa's castle. I was just visiting."  
Lady Oda no Hana and Taro both exhaled in relief. "I thought..." Lady Hana trailed off.  
"You thought what?" Shusaku questioned.  
Lady Hana "That you were going to betray us... and..."  
Taro laughed. "Shusaku would never do that!"  
Oda no Hana sighed. "Yes, that's true. I'm glad my worries washed away."  
Taro smiled.  
"Why don't we have a party?" Hiro suggested. "For Shusaku's return."  
Taro shrugged. Although Shusaku had only left them for ten days, everyone was worrying about him. 'Why not?"  
Lady Oda no Hana smiled. "That's a pleasant idea. I know a village nearby we can go celebrate at."  
"Perfect," Shusaku said. "How far is it?"  
Taro couldn't hear Lady Oda no Hana's reply. The roars of the waves were too loud. She just finished her sentence as the water calmed.  
Shusaku grimaced, but shrugged. "Great. Let's go."

* * *

"Wow!" Taro exclaimed, just as Hiro repeated his words (only Hiro said it spelled backwards. Pwahahahaha)  
Taro, Hiro, Lady Hana and Shusaku arrived at a lively village. Somehow, he thought the town looked vaguely familiar. The smell of pine oil, lavender and cinnamon tickled his nose. People all around were biting off smoked fish on a stick.  
Yes, Taro thought. It does seem familiar, but... why?  
Taro shrugged it off as they arrived at a seafood restaurant.  
"Welcome!" a woman greeted.  
"Good evening," Lady Oda no Hana said and bowed, even in her tight blue kimono.  
"Please remove your shoes and put on these tabi slippers," the woman instructed and they did as told.  
"This is great!" Hiro clapped happily. "This looks like the restaurant we used to go to as kids, Taro!"  
Taro nodded. "It does look like that place!"  
Hiro, Lady Oda no Hana and Taro were grinning, laughing and ordering delicious seafood, but Shusaku had a grimace the whole time.

"Itadaki-masu!"

In the middle of eating sushi(and wasabi), Shusaku pulled Taro aside.  
"Taro," he said in a low voice. "I need to tell you something."  
Taro blinked. "Can this wait? Hiro's going to hog all the wasabi."  
"No," snapped Shusaku. "We have to talk NOW."  
Taro crossed his arms and looked at Hiro and Lady Oda no Hana, who were laughing and eating. "Fine," he said finally. "Let's hear it."  
Shusaku hesitated for a second. "Taro, listen," he said. "The village you're in currently isn't safe. YOU'RE IN SHIRAHAMA, JAPAN. YOU HOMETOWN."  
Before Taro could say anything, Shusaku turned away. "And your other father. Lord Tokugawa. He's been murdered."


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Taro shouted, making a waitress beside him jump. Taro lowered his voice. "My father is..."  
"Dead, yes," Shusaku said. His voice broke. "I suppose that's all. Shall we continue eating?"  
Taro suddenly recalled he was a vampire, a KYUUKETSUKI and could only drink blood, but he said "okay" anyways.  
Shusaku and Taro walked back to the oshiki, where Hiro and Hana were looking at Taro with concern.  
"Taro-" Hana started but was cut off.  
"It's okay and none of your business, Lady Hana," Taro resassured. I hope I didn't sound too rude, he thought.  
Hana frowned. "I-if you say so," she mumbled.  
The meal finished, leaving Taro and Shusaku starving "You two have some sake while Taro and I find some blood," Shusaku said, took Taro's hand and ran off.  
"Sake?" cried Hiro. "I'm underage!"  
Hana, who was sipping from a cup, laughed. "I started drinking this rice wine when I was twelve!"  
Hiro grumbled, " I'd consider that BRAGGING."  
"That's only because you cannot even swallow a drop of sake!" Hana grinned.  
Hiro's eyes narrowed(they had been very small before, though). "You're picking a fight," he said.  
"Maybe I am!" said Hana. "I challenge you to a sake drinking contest!"

Shusaku darted by an oak tree. "Hurry up," he said.  
"I can't!" Taro complained as his stomach growled. "My stomach is empty!"  
"We're going to feast on cows," Shusaku said. "Farmers might be a little surprised..." He grinned and Taro laughed. They lept swiftly over a barbed fence. Shusaku put a finger to his lips. "Shh."  
They entered a shed and found several plump cows sleeping. Shusaku found a fairly sized ow and knelt next to it. in one swift motion, he brought his lips down and sank his long canine teen into the cow's belly.  
Shusaku finished a few seconds later and gestured towards the cow. "Your turn."  
Taro felt sick(as he always did when drinking blood), but dug his sharp teeth into the cow. Its warm blood entered his body and Taro's hunger ended. He gulped down the last of the cow's blood.  
"Had enought?" Shusaku's voice came from the door. He was barely visible. "Dawn is approaching. We must hurry back."  
Taro nodded. They ran back to the restaurant, where Hana and Hiro were drunk and wobbling. "Hiro, you actually drank sake?" Taro laughed.  
"Oh, hey, Ta-aro," Hiro said in a slurred voice. "I... I think I drank too much rice wine."  
Shusaku snorted. "I suppose we are finished with this meal.  
"Yes," Hana said groggily. "We should find a place to stay very soon."  
Right after Hana said that, the paper door got knocked down and a fancy-looking man stepped in the restaurant, still wearing his combat boots, unlike Taro and the rest of the people in the restaurant who were wearing TABI slippers.  
"Hello," he said stiffly. "I am Senn Souba, right-hand man of Lord Tokugawa."  
People gasped and bowed or knelt. Shusaku and Taro did not. "What are you doing?" Souba yelled at them. "How dare you disrespect higher authorities!"  
"I would like to know what you are doing," Shusaku replied, calm.  
Souba gritted his teeth. "Tokugawa," he said. "has been murdered."

More people gasped.  
"I'm so sorry Taro," Hana whispered so Senn Souba couldn't hear her. "I really am."  
Taro nodded. "Senn, go on."  
Souba growled, for Taro said his first name. "Well, I... am looking for his son! TARO TOKUGAWA! IF YOU ARE HERE, COME FORTH!"A man stood up. "You cannot barge into my restaurant like that!" he declared.  
Senn Souba glowered at him. "Really? Shindo, have him taste your KATANA."  
Another man grunted and unsheathed a samurai sword.  
The man who stood up winced. "Try m-me," he stammered. "This will not be tolerated!"  
The other man, Shindo, stepped forward. In one swing, he severed the owner's head.  
"That's enough," Souba said as the dark red pool of blood thickened. "Did you learn a lesson... SCUM?"  
Taro growled under his breath. Shusaku put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Taro tokugawa," Souba repeated.  
"He is not here," said Shindo.  
"Silence!" Souba snapped and walked away, his soldiers following. As soon as they left, a cry erupted in the room.  
"Oh no!" Taro said, looking outside. "It's morning!"  
Shusaku grimaced. "Hana, Taro, go find a place to stay. When you find it, come back."  
Hana and Taro nodded. For some strange reason, Taro could walk in the sunlight, but was still a KYUUKETSUKI.  
They ran around Shirahama until they found a nice inn that wasn't expensive.  
"This is a nice place," Hana mused.  
"I agree." Taro nodded. "Let's hurry back."  
After a few minutes of memorizing the route to the inn, Hana and Taro ran back to the restaurant. "Shusaku!" Taro said. "We found a great place!"  
"Fantastic!" Hiro exclaimed and they went to the inn. However, Shusaku was almost dying but managed to make it there.  
The inn was a typical Japanese building, curved roof and detailed features. Grey bricks built the inn and multicolored lanterns hung by the door. They entered the inn and purchased three rooms.  
Taro and Hiro found their room. It had two FUTONs and a great view. The carpet was soft and fuzzy and the walls were painted a pale green. A poster on the wall bore the kanji for "Welcome."  
"This is amazing," Taro breathed. He yawned, stumbled over to a FUTON and fell asleep.

((A/N: Instead of putting that awfully long ~*~ thing, I'm going to talk! How amazing! ... ... Don't get too close to me! I have a personal bubble, you know. And don't get up in my face. Your breath stinks.))

It was the night. Taro woke up, to find a blade to his throat. His vampire instincts kicked in and told him to move his neck away from the sword, so he did. The person who wielded the sword jumped, realizing Taro had disappeared. Actually, Taro had reached his bow and was drawing an arrow.  
"Wha-" the man started, but it was too late. Taro released the arrow and it pierced the man's eye. He fell to his knees and died.  
Taro exhaled, but he knew that man wasn't the only person that would try and kill him. Taro whirled around to find several ninja surrounding him.  
"Oh gods," muttered Taro. "What do you want?"  
The ninja in front of his stepped forward. He was tall and scarves were wrapped around his face, only revealing his eyes.  
I wonder if they have the Heart Sutra, Taro thought. The Heart Sutra was kanji tattoos. The kanji read: Shiki fu i ku, ku fu i shiki, shiki zoku ze ku, ku zoku ze shiki. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form.  
"Taro Tokugawa!" the man bellowed. Strangely, Hiro did not wake.  
What? Taro gasped. He knows my na- Oh wait, never mind. All ninja know their target's name.  
"Come with us," he said. Before Taro could open his mouth, some ninja behind him grabbed him and covered his mouth.  
"Mmff!" Taro struggled to squirm out of their grasp, but the ninja held him tight.

((A/N: "held him tight..." Oh gosh, that sounds so wrong.))

TARO WAS USELESS AT THE MOMENT.  
The ninja crew brought Taro to an unfamiliar castle. It looked more medieval than Japanese, so Taro was slightly surprised. Bricks covered the whole facade, and a large draw bridge was in the center of the castle.  
Taro's captors led Taro to a room. There he was told to sit down and be polite. They left and a few minutes later, a woman walked in.  
She had poofy black hair and was wearing a glittery silk dress. It looked very expensive.  
"My name," she said in a weird accent, "Meubi Toya. Call me Meubi-SAMA."  
Taro nodded. "Nice to meet you, Meubi-SAMA."  
Meubi paced around the room. "Son of Lord Tokugawa, hmm? Very nice to meet you."  
"Alright, let's just get to it," Meubi said. "YOU'RE GOING TO BE LORD TOKUGAWA."  
Taro's eyes widened. "Whu- me, Lord Tokugawa?"  
Meubi nodded. "Why, of course."  
"But-" Taro was going to say he was a KYUUKETSUKI, but shut up.  
"And," Meubi said. "You must have a wife."  
Taro gaped. He did not notice a girl walking in. She had the same glittery dress as Meubi, but had prettier, more lush hair. She walked behind Taro and put her arms around his neck.  
"Hello Taro," Yukiko said. "Long time no see. Heard you need a wife. Might I be a possibility?"


	3. Chapter 3

**((A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had the case of jiggly hands. *silence* That means I was too lazy to type. Anyways, wait no longer! Here is chapter three of Tears of Blood!))  
**

"Um, yeah, long time no see," Taro stammered.

"We got girls all over Japan," Meubi said. "You will choose one as your wife."

"I'm only eighteen!" Taro protested.

"Most girls marry at the age of fifteen," Yukiko hissed. "You're three years older than them."

Taro scowled, and Meubi snapped her bony fingers. Four samurai came and dragged Taro somewhere, telling him to take off his clothes.

Reluctantly, Taro did as told and was shoved in a giant tub filled to the top with hot steaming water.

_Gods, _Taro thought. _This is utter heaven._

He scrubbed himself vigorously until he thought the water had turned a muddy black color because of his dirty bod_y._

Taro hadn't washed in so long, and was constantly clumsily falling into mud.

Taro finished washing and climbed out of the oh-so refreshing water. Instead of his worn-out rags, Taro found a silk kimono, the finest shade of lime green. Little yellow lily flowers motifs patterned the robe. Taro slipped into it. The kim_ono_ fit perfectly, and felt absolutely soothing.

A single comb sat on the counter. Taro looked at his ruffled hair and picked it up. He ran the flat side through his jet-black hair.

"Tokugawa-sama," a girl with a timid voice behind him said. She took the comb from Taro's hands and brushed her hair gently. Then she started speaking.

"Um, Lord Tokugawa, I am Takani Megumi. I'll be one of your, um, choices as a wife. Um, I was went, um, to you and not captured by my um, family."

((A/N: I confess. I did get the name Takani Megumi from the epicest manga ever, Rurouni Kenshin and Sakura is from Sakura Haruno from Naruto and Kaoru from Kamiya Kaoru from Ruro-Ken... Back to the story then! Ciao, for now!))

Inside his head, Taro made a mental face. _She says "um" too much,_ he thought.

Megumi blushed after finishing Taro's hair, which looked slick and smooth then. She scurried off and another girl was at the door. she looked older than Mefumi and was prettier.

"Lord Tokugawa," she said. "Please follow me to the dining hall."

Taro swallowed hard. Dining hall He couldn't feed on anything but blood! The girl brought Taro anyway. Along the way, he learned the girl was Sakura Kaoru.

Kaoru smiled as they entered a large, dim room. A single oshiki was placed in the center. One mat sat next to the table. Many doors were visible.

"Please sit down and enjoy your meal, lord." Kaoru smiled and scrambled away.

Taro sat down in a formal way on the mat, and music started playing. A girl danced out and started singing a mellifluous song Taro was taught as a young boy. Soon, he realized he was going to watch girls' performances.

_"Do you hear the wind blow?  
Do you see the trees that show?_  
_Can you smell the pine?  
Can you taste the wine?  
It's our land to stay,  
Our fields to play,  
And a worry-free day."_

Tears pricked Taro's eyes. His mother taught him that song and he missed her dearly. Taro nodded at the girl and she walked away.

Another young girl walked in the dining hall. She wore a different outfit and performed acrobats.

Taro began to become bored of the performances, but suddenly a girl caught his eye.

She had dark hair and large eyes. The smile she wore was irresistible. Taro thought the girl was awfully familiar.

Taro realized who it was. "L-Lady Oda no Hana?"

The girl turned amid her dace. Taro was certain. It was Hana Her smiled disappeared and was replaced by a small O and a gasp.

"Taro?" he heard, but wasn't sure.

Taro thought of Hana throughout the rest of the shows.

_Why is she here?_ Taro yelled to himself. _Shouldn't she be with Shusaku and Hiro; safe?! Hana knows how to knock people unconscious with almost everything!_

The show ended. Taro thought most girls seemed aristocratic. Another girl named Riza Nara bought Taro to a grand room. The scent of lavender entered his nostrils. Taro flopped on the large, soft bed. It wasn't a futon, so Taro was unfamiliar with everything.

Before he was half-asleep, Taro heard someone enter his room. Because of his old habits, Taro yawned, "Go away, Mom. Yeesh."

"I'm not your mother!" the person snapped.

Taro sat up. He rubbed his eyes. "Wha-- I-- I mean, I'm so so--"

"Taro," Hana said, slapping him across the face. "I do believe we need to talk."

* * *

Okay! End of chapter 3! Ahh. Finally, it's done. For now.

*groans* Then I have to write Chapter 4... where they have a long conversation. Bah.

Lesson time!!!

Okay, so you know Tokugawa, right? :D

Taro's father. But Blood Ninja is, unfortunately, a fictional story. But it has historical information.

Tokugawa had a name before Tokugawa, but I don't remember it and I'm too lazy to Google it right now... and so his father died, who was a lord and Tokugawa gained the position.

He became allies with Nobunga Oda, "Lord Oda," and... ODA GOT ASSASSINATED.

I learned that in Social Studies. :D

So you see how Nick Lake's book Blood Ninja relates to the real story.

Lesson over!!!! See you next chapter! Peace!


	4. AN

Hello

It's been, like, a year.

TT_TT

I've decided to stop posting the story, which I finished, mostly because I'm lazy.

But if you want the rest of it, please PM me and I'll send it to you :D

If I have time... o_o

Well, anyways, support Nick Lake by buying his sequel to the Blood Ninja series, Blood Ninja II! (Kinda cliche?)

YAYYYY!

It's a really cute book.

With action and deaths and ninjas and vampires.

ALL INTO ONE DELICIOUS PIECE OF GUM.

K, bye! FOREVERRRRRR

Maybe.


End file.
